Forgotten Holocaust

Much is made of the terrible events in Europe during WW II, and rightly so. 11 million people died in the Holocaust and many more millions died in the fighting there.

Less attention is paid to the terrible price the Chinese paid during the 1930s and 40s. During the Rape of Nanjing an estimated 300,000 people were killed over several months, many of them women who were repeatedly raped before being bayoneted. Japanese officiers had competitions to see who could chop off the most Chinese heads. After the Dolittle raid on Japan in 1942, the region where the American flyers landed was treated to heavy reprisals from the Japanese. Over 250,000 Chinese died. Chinese were the only victims of biological warfare during the war. There is no documentation of the effects of this program, but in one instance winds blew the biological material back on the Japanese. Over 1500 died and more than 10,000 were severely sickened. The result against the Chinese must have been equally terrible.

In all over 30 million Chinese probably died during the war.

In Western countries, Japanese atrocities are known but have never been really explored in all that much depth for political reasons - things like the maintenance of the Japanese occupational government and its police and officials in South Korea after the war, or maybe more important, the amnesties granted to the top officials involved in Unit 731 in exchange for their research data, some of whom later became quite prominent in Japan and even some Western countries in politics, academia, business, and scientific circles. So, the atrocities are mentioned and known but never really explored in all that much detail. We're taught in school about the Rape of Nanking, but only in passing, and the rest is really glossed over.

That's not the only reason though - the Holocaust occurred in Western nations so naturally more attention is paid to it. Also the numbers are alot lower (not that I think that really matters, but still).

Originally posted by Genghis The German Holocaust was also much more systematic, whereas the Japanese one was more like a long string a massacres.  There's something more disturbing about bureaucratized genocide to many people.

I find the press coverage in Japan of officiers competing to see who could chop off the most Chinese heads pretty disturbing, but I know what you mean.

so? how many Chinese did Mao kill? 40-70 millions? who cares for Japanese...

Originally posted by Temujin so? how many Chinese did Mao kill? 40-70 millions? who cares for Japanese...

The Chinese killed by the Japanese are still dead, the one doesn't nullify the other. I think more attention needs to be paid to the true nature of Mao too.

Why forgotten?

those who matter know of it...those who dont know dont matter.

well, you have to considder that the Chinese are a numerous people and where there are many people, a lot of them will perish. North Africa was a major war theater but with hardly any civilian casualties, but i doubt it is because Germans considdered Lybians as part of the Aryan race but rather because North Africa is sparsely populated....

but you were talking of a genocide.

Originally posted by DukeC Does being a member of a large national population reduce the value of an individuals life?

for the Chinese, i think yes. Maoism, Confuzianism and Human-Wave tactics come into mind....

I recall hearing that Chinese actually flooded the Nazi embassy to try to escape the Japanese.

The German holocaust probably garners more attention because of its; size, meticulity and the fact that this is an advanced first world nation.  Japan was too, but Germany had a longer standing history of relative tolerance, something that Japan didn't.

Edited by lennel

Originally posted by zibi The west tend to ignore genocide in third world countries. while we are bussy writing here, thousends of Darpur citizens are killed by Sudanise soldiers and militiamen, much like the way the Japanese killed thier Chinese victims. No one realy cares. But, if a single European will take a part in the dispute, it"ll be all over the Media.

Sad, but true.